


a start.

by sncwbaz



Category: Carry On - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Alternate Universe - Normal Life, Fluff, M/M, Prom, Slow Dancing, SnowBaz, Snowbaz Prom, and going to school with all the same people of the book but not a magical school, just simon living domestically at home with lucy, rated t for cursing, soft boys with a crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-29 15:13:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14475405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sncwbaz/pseuds/sncwbaz
Summary: Simon has decided he's not going to prom after hearing the rumours that his ex-grilfriend is brining his current crush as her date. Simon might've wanted to fact check those rumours, though.(This was written for the Snowbaz Prom event that was created on tumblr.)





	a start.

**Author's Note:**

> You can also find this fic on my tumblr. (I'm @sncwbaz on there as well.)

I go through my Instagram Stories to look at pictures and videos of my classmates as they get ready for prom. According to Trixie’s Story, she and her questionable glitter kink have managed to pretty much drown her girlfriend in glitter for tonight. I also saw a video posted by Garreth of the hired limo arriving at his home for him and his date. 

I let out a defeated sigh as I roll onto my stomach. I damn myself for not keeping my own promise of not spending this entire evening sulking over how everyone else is having fun at prom without me. It’s not as if I don’t have good reasons for not attending prom myself. 

In fact, I’ve compiled a whole list of good, _solid_ , reasons for not going:

**1\. Dancing**  
I can’t dance to save my life. Prom includes dancing, staying at home does not. 

**2\. Agatha**  
This year is the first year where I won’t be able to go with Agatha as my date. We broke up earlier this school year, and even though I consider myself very much over her, it doesn't help that the whole school has been talking about how Agatha is taking Baz to prom as her date this year. It fucking has to be him of all people. I really don’t feel ready to watch the two of them slow dance, even just the thought of it makes him feel nauseous. 

Now I’m not dating Agatha anymore, it also means that I actually have to find the courage to ask someone else as a date, with which comes the fear of the possible rejection. I swear I’m really over Agatha, but being in an actual relationship made getting a date for prom a whole lot easier. 

**3\. Third Wheeling**  
I figured I could ask Penny as my date… just to go as friends, but then I realised she’s going with her boyfriend, and then I realised that I don’t really have anyone else I could ask. This would mean I could just go by myself, which would have me ending up as third wheel with Penny and Micah. Yet another reason to just stay home. 

**4\. A Suit**  
This might sound stupid, but normally Agatha would find me a suit to wear, so I never had to think of it myself. I just wore what she wanted me to wear. 

I would wear one of my suits from previous proms, if they hadn’t all belonged to Agatha’s father, or been hired instead of bought. 

I guess this fits in under reason two as well, since the problem is Agatha based… but the suit feels like its own whole problem now. At least staying home means I can go around in sweatpants and a hoody. 

**5\. Baz (and Agatha)**  
Hear me out, this is not the same as reason two. The thing about Agatha and Baz going together is that I think I might be more jealous of Agatha than of Baz… Like I said, I’m truly over Agatha. I’m not over my crush on Baz though… 

 

Regardless of my very solid reasons not to go to prom, I still can’t help but feel a sense of regret for not going. Being able to experience prom through my friends their social media accounts is definitely not helping. 

Finally, I decide to bury my phone under my pillow, and go down stairs to watch a film with mum, if she’s up for it. 

“Hi Si,” she greets me as I join her in the living room. She’s sitting on the couch with an tablet resting on her propped-up knees. I throw myself down on the couch beside her and peek at her tablet to see what she’s doing; playing Solitaire as it turns out.

“Bored, mum?” I ask her. 

She smiles without looking up at me, “No, but you seem to be.” 

I shrug and rest my head on her shoulder. “I thought that maybe we could watch a film?” 

She nods, still not looking up from the tablet. “You had a particular film in mind?” 

“No, not really. Just something light.” 

It took us some time to finally choose a film to watch, and once we’re finally settled, each of us occupying one side of the couch, tablet closed off and out of sight, the doorbell rings. 

Mum and I share a look and I pout at her, silently pleading her to get the door instead of me. I really don’t feel like getting up from my cosy spot on the couch. She gives me her motherly smile and goes to get the door. 

I strain my ears to find out who’s ringing our doorbell at this hour. 

“Hello Miss Salisbury, is Simon home?” I hear a familiar voice coming from our front door, and my heart goes actual haywire. There’s simply no fucking way. 

“Hello Baz, yes he’s home. Should I get him or do you want to come inside?” 

No verbal answer follows after that, but I can hear the door being closed shut, which means Baz must’ve come inside. I hear footsteps approaching the living room, and for a moment I contemplate going into hiding. However, the two of them reach the living room before I can move a muscle. 

I watch Baz enter the living room in his dark green suit and slicked back hair, and I decide that I need a fucking moment. Baz Pitch is standing in my living room in his gorgeous prom suit—that, mind you, fits him perfectly—whilst he should actually be at prom with Agatha. 

“What— Wh— Baz?” I struggle to form a coherent though as I stumble up from the couch. 

Baz, the dick he is, just grins at me. “Hi, Simon.” 

“I’ll be upstairs for a minute,” mum says, after looking from me, to Baz, back to me. I barely hear her going up the stairs, because I’m still too dumbfound by the fact that Baz is standing in front of me, in my living room, in his prom suit. 

Baz takes a look at the television, where the screen is paused in the middle of the opening scene from Finding Nemo. Then he turns his gaze back to me and he seems to take in the clothes I’m wearing. I feel weirdly self-conscious as I become aware of the contrast of him standing there in a shiny suit, meanwhile I’m standing here is a pair of sweats and a hoody. “You really weren’t planning on going to prom, were you?” 

“No,” I reply, though it sounds like a question. 

“So Penelope told me,” Baz says, and he folds his arms over his chest, “She told me you weren’t going because you’re convinced that Agatha and I are going together.” 

I feel my cheeks burning at the accusation, “I mean, I definitely had more good reasons to pass on prom.”

“Such as?”

“ _Such as_ that I can’t dance.”

“That has never stopped you from going to prom before.”

Oh, for fucks sake. I’m quiet for moment, meanwhile Baz looks at me with raised eyebrows. I realise he’s most likely waiting for me to continue listing my oh-so solid reasons for not going to prom. 

“Also,” I say quickly, “I don’t have a date and I’m really not that excited about third wheeling with Penny and Micah.” 

Baz snorts at that, “Fair enough. You could have just gotten yourself a prom date, though.”

“I couldn’t find a date,” I say in a small voice. God, I’m so glad mum left the room earlier to spare me from the embarrassment of having this conversation in front of her. 

“You couldn’t find a date because you thought Agatha was already taken by me?” 

“I couldn’t find a date because it seemed like you were already taken by Agatha,” I clarify, and I feel my heart pounding as I wait for Baz to get my implication. 

“Are you trying to tell me that you would’ve actually asked me to prom if you hadn’t heard the rumours about me and Agatha going together?” 

All I do is shrug, I can’t look Baz in the eye anymore. 

“Well then,” he says slowly, “Next time I recommend you fact check the rumours you hear. I’m clearly not going to prom with Agatha, so I think you’ve got a question you want to ask me.” 

“Wh—what?” My eyes instantly fix on Baz’s face again to see if he’s being serious. He looks at me like he’s not willing to repeat himself. 

“You actually want to go to prom with me?” I ask carefully. 

Baz looks at me for a moment, then shakes his head, “Simon, why do you think I’m standing here, in the middle of your living room, clearly dressed for prom?” 

“Uh— _Right_. So… you want to go to prom with me?” 

“ _Yes_ , Simon,” Baz says, and he’s smiling now. His smile is contagious, I think, as notice I’m smiling too.

Then I remember, “Uh, I don’t have a fancy suit.” 

Baz grins, “Of course you don’t. I couldn’t care less, though, even if you’d show up to prom in the clothes you’re wearing right now.” 

I look down at my worn out sweats and hoody, then up at Baz. “I’ll look like an absolute idiot, showing up like this.” 

“You would. Yet you still managed to get the most handsome guy in our year as your date.” 

I roll my eyes at that, though Baz was probably being generous by calling himself most handsome guy of their year, and not their entire school. 

“Well, okay then,” I tell him, and we’re both quiet for a few seconds.

“You don’t want to change into other clothes?” he asks me. 

“No, you said you would be okay with this, right?” 

“Yes I am, but are you?”

I shrug. “It’s comfortable.” 

He genuinely laughs this time. “I’m sure it is,” he says, and then he inclines his head towards outside. “Shall we go then?” 

“Right now?” I ask. I instantly feel nervous about all of this. I’m actually going to prom with Baz. In my fucking sweatpants and hoody as well. 

“If we want to arrive at prom before it ends, then yes. Right now. I’ve got a ride waiting for us outside.” 

I realise that I need to move, but I’m still not fully processing everything that is happening right now. “Uh, my mum,” I stammer. “I should—uh, get her.” 

I call for her from the bottom of the stairs, and she comes running down within seconds. “It turns out I actually am going to prom,” I tell her as we walk back into the living room where Baz is still standing ever so gracefully in his beautiful suit, waiting for me. 

“I see,” she says with a broad grin on her face. “You’re going in these clothes?” She asks me. 

“Yeah, I guess I am.”

She shakes her head in disbelief, but I can see she’s smiling fondly at the same time. Then I notice the camera she’s holding in her hands. 

“I assume you two won’t mind if I take some pictures before you go, right? My boy going to prom with his date is not something that happens every day, of course,” She says as she holds up the camera and gestures to us to stand together in front of it. 

I look at Baz and I feel my cheeks growing warm, I take a few careful steps toward him and turn towards the camera my mom is holding up. Baz and I stand awkwardly next to each other as we wait for my mother to take some pictures. However, after taking just one look at us, she sighs. “Come on boys, huddle up!” She exclaims.

Baz and I look at each other, it reassures me to see that Baz looks uncertain as well. We shuffle closer together, so our shoulders are pressed together. I feel Baz brushing his hand softly against mine in question.

“Okay?” he asks me.

“Yeah,” I assure him, and he takes my hand in his. I can feel my cheeks getting warmer by the second, but I ignore this and interlock our fingers. 

The both of us look back to my mum and her camera. “Smile, boys!” She tells us, and we do. We don’t just smile because she told us to; this whole situation feels like a dream. 

When mum is done taking pictures Baz leads me outside to our ride, not letting go of my hand until he opens the door of the very expensive-looking Mercedes to let me inside. 

Once I’m seated in the car I’m faced with absolute horror. 

“Hello Simon,” says Fiona—Baz’s terrifying aunt—from the drivers seat. 

It takes me every bit of nerve not to race right back out of the car, into my safe home. 

“H—Hi,” I stammer. 

“The fuck are you wearing?” She asks as she takes a look at me through the rear-view mirror. 

“I—uh,” Before I can get anywhere with my answer, Baz enters the car. 

“Straight to school, Fiona,” Baz tells his aunt. 

She snorts at his choice of words. “Straight,” she mocks him, but she leaves it at that as she starts the car and drives off with quite the speed. I’m just praying we all come out of this car alive. 

“You two took quite some time in there, I almost drove off without you,” Fiona comments.

“Simon’s mum wanted to take pictures. She took her time,” Baz replied. Mum wanting to take pictures definitely hadn’t been the reason for us taking forever, but I guess Baz doesn’t want to give a whole report on how long it took him to make me realise he wanted to go to prom with me, which is something I’m grateful for. 

Once we arrive at school, I feel sick. Mainly because of Fiona’s reckless driving behaviour, but also because the nerves are really getting to me now.

I’m about to enter prom in my sweats and hoody, with Baz Pitch at my side. I wonder what Penny will think.

Baz and I get out the car and Fiona waves us off. Baz takes my hand—at which Fiona makes a whooping sound that both Baz and I ignore—and we make our way towards the entrance of our school. 

“I’ll pick you two up in a few hours!” Fiona calls after us, and I would be lying if I said that I trust her to uphold that promise. That, however, is the least of my worries right now. 

We’re greeted with cheesy pop music pounding from the speakers as we enter prom. All the people from our school have turned into a big swarm of awkwardly moving beings—most of them are actually out of timing with the beat of the music. The first thought I have is _‘How am I supposed to find Penny in this mess?’_

Then I realise I’m here with Baz, so there’s truly no need to find Penny. 

“You wanna dance?” I shout at Baz, barely loud enough to let my voice carry over the music. 

“ _Obviously_ ,” he shouts back, and he leads me into the big swarm of dancing teens. 

It’s crowded, sweaty, and I really, really suck at dancing. I figured that all these things would make for a bad experience, but I’m having more fun than I’ve ever had at a prom. 

After a few more dance tracks, a slow song comes on. Baz and I look each other in the eye for a few seconds, before we move closer. We have an awkward moment of trying to figure out who’s putting who’s hands where, but we figure it out. 

I’ve got my hands behind his head, and I can feel how the stands of his hair are clinging to his sweaty neck. I smile as I softly brush my finger tips through those strands of hair, not minding the sweatiness of it at all. His hair, previously slicked back, is now hanging around his face in loose strands from dancing. I decide that I like it better this way. 

I spare a quick look to the people around us. Not too far away from us I spot Penny and—

I quickly look back at Baz in terror. 

“What?” He asks while laughing at my expression. 

“I just saw Penny and Micah making out a bit too passionately, and I really didn’t need to see that.”

Baz laughs harder and his forehead bumps against mine, softly. First it happens on accident, but the second time he makes it happen on purpose and he stays there, his forehead softly pressed against mine. 

I wonder if Baz expect us to kiss now. The thought makes panic bubble up inside me. I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet. Not in front all of these people. Baz, though, seems perfectly at peace with just swaying to the music like this, so I take a breath and follow his lead. 

Once the song is over, though, I quickly press a soft, barely there, kiss to his cheek before moving away from him. Instead of watching his reaction I start moving to the more upbeat song that is now playing, limbs moving wildly in all places. 

After a few hours Baz and I end up back in Fiona’s car— _she actually came to back to drive us home_. She tries to interview us about how prom was by asking wether we made out or not, but Baz is quick to cut her off.

“Please don’t pry into my love life, pervert.” He says this with a grin, though. I can’t really wrap my head around the way the relationship between Baz and his aunt works. She shuts up though, so there’s that. 

Once we arrive at my home, Baz follows me out of the car. “If you’re not back here in five minutes, I’ll be driving off without you!” Fiona calls at Baz. 

“Not worried,” Baz tells her. “I’ll just sleep at Simon’s house.” 

I can feel my entire face growing hot at that thought. I’m glad it’s dark out so Baz can’t see how my cheeks must have turned proper red at his comment. 

Baz walks me to the front door, where we come to an awkward stop. I don’t really know why Baz followed me out of the car. I don’t know if he’s expecting anything from me. 

“I—I really had fun,” I tell Baz. “Thank you for actually coming to get me and all…”

“Yeah, imagine if you had spent the entire prom at home, only to find out later that I actually didn’t go to prom with Agatha and you, therefore, stayed at home for nothing.” 

I snort at that, “Yeah, imagine.” 

We softly smile at each other. “I had fun too,” Baz says, softly. 

We’re quiet for a bit. I desperately don’t want to go inside yet; not ready to have Baz removed from my side yet. For a moment I do contemplate if I should ask Baz to stay over for the night, but I don’t think mum would be fully down with that. 

Baz halts my train of thought with a question. “Simon, can I kiss you?” 

I consider this for a moment, then I smile at him and nod. My stomach is doing all sorts of things inside of my body, as Baz places his hand over my jaw, but I try to ignore it in favour of taking in every bit of contact between me and Baz. 

Baz places his lips over mine and I can feel my heart pounding embarrassingly hard in my chest. The kiss isn’t much, yet it’s so much more than any kiss I’ve ever had with Agatha. I place my hands on Baz’s middle and move to deepen the kiss. 

Only a second later we’re broken apart by Fiona’s warning. “30 seconds, Baz, or I’ll be off!” 

“ _Right_ ,” Baz says hastily, as he quickly looks back to Fiona’s car. “Thank you for tonight,” he says to me.

“Thank you, too,” I reply. We both smile and he presses a quick kiss against my lips before he’s off. I watch him get back into Fiona’s car, and think to myself that this is a start to something. 

This is a start to something great.


End file.
